1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to trash and recycling receptacles that are used to collect discarded materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to trash receptacles and recycling receptacles that are compartmented so that discarded items of different materials can be sorted upon disposal into the receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
More and more municipalities are requiring that collected trash be divided between recyclable and non-recyclable materials. One of the most common ways to meet this requirement is to provide different receptacles for different materials. For example, a home can have one trash bin for plastic items, one trash bin for aluminum items and another for non-recyclable trash. As such, by disposing of an item in the proper trash bin, the discarded material automatically is separated for processing by the municipality.
When a municipality collects trash, they often collect different materials at different times and with different trucks. For example, a municipality may collect non-recyclable trash with one garbage truck and collect aluminum and glass with different trucks. In this manner, the presorted materials are not again mixed by the municipality when collected.
In addition to collecting recyclables at their residents' homes, many municipalities are considering collecting recyclables from public locations. One way to do this is to provide compartmented trash cans. Compartmented trash cans have multiple access openings through which trash can be inserted. Each access opening leads to an isolated compartment within the trash can. The different access openings are identified with different materials, such as paper, plastic, aluminum, etc. Accordingly, once people take their trash to the trash can, it takes little additional effort to dispose of the trash in the proper bin.
Compartmented garbage cans are exemplified in the prior art by U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,235 to Nieto, entitled Receptacle For Recyclable Materials; U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,050 to Haas, entitled, Lid And Structural Arrangement For Recycling And Refuse Receptacles; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,853 to Strawder, entitled Compartmented Receptacle.
Trash cans used in public places are often unattractive, overflowing with garbage and difficult to locate. Since recycling in public places is not yet widespread, it is often unclear to people whether there exist receptacles for recyclable materials. Even among those few municipalities that provide for recycling in public places, there exists a wide variety of recycling receptacles, ranging from regular trash receptacles relabeled as recycling receptacles to old steel drums with spray-painted indica marking them as recycling collection receptacles. In addition, many of the current recycling receptacles have large waste collection openings that are subject to insects, rodents, overflowing, and flooding from rainfall. Other current recycling receptacles make no allowances for differences in collection times, and force municipal workers to handle all of the collected materials, even though they are seeking to collect only a portion of the recyclables and refuse.
A need therefore exists for an improved, aesthetically pleasing trash receptacle that is convenient to use, simplifies recycling and provides for improved access to the discarded materials for collection. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.